NHL at the All-Star Break

With the NHL season resuming tonight, here's a refresher of the first half of the season and a preview for the second half.

Eastern Conference Team to Beat: New York Rangers (32-12-4 66 pts.)- The Rangers have the second best defense in the NHL and goalie Henrik Lundqvist is having a career year (.937 save %, 1.87 GAA) and the Rangers are playing their best hockey in years. Look for the Rangers to compete with Detroit for the President's Trophy.

Western Conference Team to Beat: Detroit Red Wings (33-16-1 67 pts.)- The veteran-led Red Wings are running through the Central Division right now. The Wings have 5 players who have over 30 points and their defense is ranked 6th in the NHL. The Wings look to be a complete team and a force to be reckoned with in the West.

Surprise Team: Florida Panthers (22-15-11, 55 pts.) In a division that includes Washington and Tampa Bay, no one saw the Panthers sneak up and end up in a tie for first place. Behind Kris Versteeg (19 goals, 24 assists), who is well on his way to a career year, the Panthers have been able to generate enough offense to ride pleasant surprise Jose Theodore (2.50 GAA) to atop the division. The Panthers have considerably cooled off from their hot streak, but they have enough talent to hold off a listless Capitals team. The Southeast Division is shaping to be one of the top races of the second half.

Most Disappointing: TIE: Washington Capitals (26-19-3, 55 pts.) and Anaheim Ducks (18-23-7, 43 pts.) Both of these teams had high expectations heading into this season. The Capitals blazed out of the gate at 7-0 and were living up to their lofty preseason expectations. But soon, they collapsed. Their stars weren't scoring, their defense was crumbling, Tomas Vokoun was letting in soft goals, and Coach Bruce Bodreau lost control of his team. The team has since fired Bodreau and under new coach Dale Hunter the Caps have played better but have not reached their full capabilities yet. We'll see if they can turn it around and regain control of the division.

The Anaheim Ducks are another team that was predicted to do very well this season and with reigning MVP Corey Perry and steadfast goaltender Jonas Hiller the Ducks were sitting pretty. However a lackluster performance from Hiller and the entire Ducks' defense has been their downfall. They went through a 32 game stretch where they won only 6 games, and still have not fully recovered from that disastrous slump.



MVP: Pavel Datsyuk, C, Red Wings- With 14 goals, 39 assists, and a +20 rating, all while leading the first place Red Wings. Datsyuk also doesn't take bad penalties (only 12 penalty minutes) and has 17 points on the power play. He is also 5th in faceoffs won and has 58 hits this season.

Vezina Trophy- Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers. Lundqvist is having an incredible year ranking third in GAA (1.87) and save percentage (.937). Lundqvist is also anchoring the New York Rangers and has carried the team to their current conference lead

AFC Championship Preview

In the AFC Conference Championship game we have the top two teams in the conference, the #1 seed New England Patriots will host the #2 seed Baltimore Ravens in what promises to be an epic game.

Patriots Offense vs. Ravens Defense: This is the matchup that will decide the day. The Patriots are led by arguably the best QB in the league, Tom Brady. Brady has been dominating this season racking up 5,235 yards and 39 touchdowns. Last week versus the Broncos, Brady threw 6 touchdowns. 5 in the first half. But to compare the Broncos' defense to the Ravens is not fair. The Ravens are third in total defense (288.9 yards per game) and in scoring defense (16.6). The Ravens also have ballhawking safety Ed Reed and a fierce linebacker corps led by Ray Lewis (95 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles) and Terrell Suggs (14 sacks, 7 forced fumbles). The Ravens also have big nose tackle Haloti Ngata (5 sacks, 64 tackles). Baltimore will have to stop the Patriots dual threat of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski who have 24 touchdowns combined. Another thing to watch is Patriots running back Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis (who has not fumbled all season) and his success on the ground.
Edge: Even

Ravens Offense vs. Patriots Defense: The Ravens will run the ball. They know it, the Patriots know it, I know it, you know it, and they're going to do it well. Ray Rice (1,364 yards, 12 TDs)  is perhaps the best back in the league and he has carried games for the Ravens before and will be a huge part in determining if the Ravens can put up enough points to win. Expect him to have success against the Patriots' 17th ranked rush defense. Now comes the question of Joe Flacco. Flacco has had a decent season (3,610 yards, 20 touchdowns) and has the talent to win games for the Ravens. But with increasing pressure both from the media and his own teammates, can he block it all out and still play good solid football and lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl? I think he can thanks to the Patriots atrocious pass defense (31st in the leauge) and the fact that he is a great playoff quarterback (4 wins on the road in the playoffs: tied for an NFL record).
Advantage: Ravens Offense

Special Teams:Both teams have solid kickers. The Patriots Stephen Gostkowski has better range and I give the edge to him in terms of field goals. Both teams punters average 46.5 yards per kick. The Ravens have a slight edge in the return game, but this category is very even.
Advantage: Even




Prediction: It's an instant classic and both teams have big plays that swing the momentum back and forth all game. But at the end of the day I think it's the Ravens 30-27

NFC Conference Championship Preview

In the NFC we have the upstart Giants fresh off their beat-down of Green Bay at Lambeau traveling to face the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams are playing at a high-level right now and I expect this game to be almost as good as the New Orleans-San Francisco game from last week.

 

Giants Offense vs. 49ers Defense: Eli Manning is playing out of his mind right now (607 yards, 67.7  completion %, 6 touchdowns, 1 interception in the two playoff games this season) and despite the 49ers great run defense (league best 77.3 yards per game) their pass defense is average and with a great QB like Eli that defense becomes even more susceptible. The Giants must be wary, however, of the 49ers great turnover margin. The 49ers rank in the top 10 in both interceptions (23) and forced fumbles (20). Eli must be sure to avoid the turnover issues that can ruin a game for him.

Advantage: Giants Offense

49ers Offense vs. Giants Defense:Alex Smith has had doubters his entire career and throughout this entire season he has been putting them to rest. He had perhaps the best game of his career in his biggest test to date (299 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) and is playing with a lot of confidence right now. The 49ers also have bruising tailback Frank Gore who also had a big day against the Saints (89 yards) despite only carrying the ball 13 times. The battle here will be to see if the 49ers offensive line can stop arguably the best pass rush in the NFL. The cleaner Alex Smith's jersey is the better chance the 49ers have to win. 

Advantage: Despite the Giants shutdown of Green Bay last week, the 49ers Offense is more balanced than the Packers' and is playing their best football of the year right now.

Special Teams: Some of you may remember the last time these two teams met in the playoffs (for those of you who don't: The Giants muffed two snaps on field goals and the 49ers won 39-38). So the game could very well come down to special teams and if it does the 49ers have the edge. David Akers is one of the best kickers in the league and is 7-9 from 50+ this season. The Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes can be clutch (see his game winning kick that sent the Giants to the 2008 Super Bowl) but does not have the consistency to give him the edge over Akers. In the return game there is virtually a wash as the 49ers and Giants rank almost identical in yards allowed.

Advantage: 49ers

Final Score Prediction: San Fran stays hot and moves into the Super Bowl as they best the Giants thanks to great defense and Alex Smith having another great game. 49ers 27-19

National Title Preview

You all have heard tons about this game, #1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama. SEC vs. SEC. Rematch. Defense vs. Defense. Two of the best coaches in the country. Time for the Danger Zone Sports Breakdown

Offense: LSU's ground attack is led by the two headed monster of Michael Ford (755 yards and 7 touchdowns) and Spencer Ward (700 yards, 8 touchdowns). The Tigers rank 17th in the country with 215.2 rushing yards per game and dual-threat quarterback Jordan Jefferson (248 rushing yards, 684 passing yards, 9 total touchdowns) is trusted to not make mistakes and move the Tigers' offense when they are faced with long-yardage situations. Alabama is led by arguably the best back in the country, Trent Richardson (1,583 yards, 20 touchdowns) and as Richardson goes, so does the offense. Under center for the Tide is AJ McCarron (2,400 yards, 16 touchdowns, 5 interceptions) who has served as a great complement to the Tide's dominating rushing attack.
Edge: Alabama is more consistent but this game will be won on big plays, so I'll give a very slight edge to LSU.

Defense: The defenses were the highlight of the first game (a game won in overtime by LSU 9-6), and tonight's game shouldn't be any different. Alabama has the best scoring defense in the country allowing a minuscule 8.8 points per game. The Crimson Tide also rank number one in total defense, allowing less than 200 yards a game. The second best scoring defense in the nation belongs to LSU who allow 10.5 points per game, the second best total defense in the country also belongs to LSU who allow 252 yards per game. The only edge in defense that LSU has is turnovers. LSU has forced 12 fumbles and picked off 18 passes as compared to Alabama's 18 total forced turnovers.

Edge: Despite LSU's turnover capabilities, Alabama is overall too strong defensively to not give them the edge.

Special Teams: LSU has the edge in returns thanks to cornerback Tyrann Mathieu who has brought back 2 touchdowns so far this season and ranks second nationally with 16.2 yards per punt return. In the kicking game the teams are very even. LSU's kicker Drew Alleman is hitting 88.9% of his field goals and Alabama's Jeremy Shelley is hitting 80%. The game could come down to field postion and in the punting game the edge goes to LSU and their Austrailian punter Brad Wing who ranks 14th in the country averaging 44.4 yards per punt.

Edge: LSU has the edge here and the game could come down to special teams just like the first time.

Intangibles: LSU won the first game and did end the year as the only undefeated team in the nation, they are playing for pride and to prove that they are truly the best team in the country. Alabama looks to prove that they deserved another shot at the Tigers so this game promises to be a hard-fought contest. I also give LSU the edge in coaching department as well, Les Miles always has something cooking under that hat of his and I expect LSU to pull out some trick plays that will turn the momentum of the game.

Edge: LSU


Prediction: LSU 20 Alabama 14